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Four Bodies Found Along Florida Turnpike in St. Lucie County; Buffalo Snow; North Korea Nuclear Test

Aired October 13, 2006 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Heidi Collins.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris.

Spend a second hour in the NEWSROOM this morning and stay informed.

Here's what's on the rundown this hour.

A gruesome find beside a Florida highway this morning. The bodies of four people shot to death. Two of the dead are children.

COLLINS: Britain's army chief stirring up what he calls "hoo- ha". He wants his soldiers to leave Iraq sometime soon.

HARRIS: How about this? Buffalo buried. Parts of upstate New York get two feet of October snow. It is one for the record books this Friday, the 13th of October.

You are in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: To Florida now and the turnpike there. A terrible discovery of four bodies along the turnpike. Two of them children ages 4 and 6.

Fredricka Whitfield has been watching this story.

What's the latest now, Fred?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this taking place at about 7:45 this morning, when an eyewitness called state troopers to say that these four bodies were alongside a grassy area there on the turnpike. You're seeing the pictures now from our affiliates there. The discovery was made near the Fort Pierce exit along the turnpike, very close to the I-95 interchange, which is a busy stretch of the Florida turnpike.

The sheriff that I spoke with earlier tells me that it appears it is a Hispanic family, man, woman, boy and girl, ages 4 and 6, as you mentioned, Heidi. And their bodies were found with multiple gunshot wounds.

Sheriff Ken Mascara joins me again on the line. And Sheriff, what is it going to take to solve this case given that this is ordinarily a fairly busy stretch of the turnpike? But you believe the crime took place somewhere between midnight and 7:45 a.m.

SHERIFF KEN MASCARA, ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA: Fredricka, that is correct. And what it's going to take is maybe one of your listeners that saw something suspicious in the area, for them to call us. That's what it's going to take to solve this case.

WHITFIELD: And given that this is fairly close to the I-95 interchange, an awful lot of traffic, even overnight, given that you've got a lot of truckers going up and down the turnpike on a regular basis. Are you hearing any rumblings from anyone who says they thought they saw something unusual along this stretch?

MASCARA: Not as of yet. We're publicly asking or pleading for assistance now. And this is our first national request. And we hope this will facilitate some calls into our tips line, which is 772-462- 3230.

WHITFIELD: No vehicle was found near these -- near these bodies, correct?

MASCARA: That is correct. It appears the vehicle pulled off the turnpike southbound onto the southbound shoulder. The persons were shot, and the suspects re-entered the vehicle and left the area, again, traveling southbound on the Florida turnpike.

WHITFIELD: You feel fairly confident that the people were shot there and not that their bodies were dumped at that location?

MASCARA: We feel at this time comfortable that the -- that the incident took place right there at the scene.

WHITFIELD: All right. And hopefully if anyone knows any information about this very gruesome discovery here, once again, call 772-462-3230. Any information it seems would be helpful.

Sheriff Ken Mascara, thanks for joining us from St. Lucie County.

COLLINS: All right, Fredricka. Thank you for that.

And hopefully someone will call and give us more information. It's a tough time of time day there. So dark out there and everything.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very disturbing.

COLLINS: Between the hours of midnight and 7:00 they believe those bodies were there.

All right. Fredricka Whitfield, we'll check back later.

HARRIS: And we want to get an update on the situation in Buffalo. A lot of snow. Talk about an October surprise, Chad, we're talking about power outages, trees down. Well, take it from here and sort of tell us what's going on there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Marge Ryan is on the phone with us. She's a resident of Buffalo.

Marge, good morning.

MARGE RYAN, BUFFALO RESIDENT: Good morning.

HARRIS: Marge, how you doing?

COLLINS: She sounds great.

RYAN: A little chilly.

HARRIS: Doesn't she sound great?

RYAN: A little chilly.

HARRIS: You're a little chilly. Sure, sure.

All right. Let me ask you something. You've been listening to Chad, and he's been talking about the situation as it actually unfolded.

What were you getting in terms of a forecast last night? What were you expecting and what did you get?

RYAN: Some of the weather forecasters -- because we were flipping the channel to 4 and 7 -- and some of them were really kind of -- you could tell they had a frightening sound to their voice like we were going to get this. And of course we're -- we're pretty hearty people, so we weren't really frightened by it.

But at 12:00 I realized our power was out. And then I did become frightened, because back in '76 we were without power for 10 days when there -- you know, when -- when there was nothing you could do but just keep waiting and hoping they'd find the source.

Right now, what's happening is our mayor and our county executives are flying around in a helicopter to assess the damage. Instead of calling for the National Guard immediately, they are taking a ride around. And people are calling in very annoyed about that. So I think at this point in time, because the trees, as he said, have caused so much damage and the trucks can't get down the streets, the power trucks can't come, this is the big issue.

HARRIS: Right.

RYAN: And the nursing homes and even -- even -- there's, you know, assisted living places. A little old lady, 80, called in and she was very, very upset and said everything in this complex was electrical and there's no power. So she -- they were trying to help her, saying, call this non-emergency number, they will come and get you and bring to you a facility where you can at least be warm and have a cup of coffee.

So that's pretty much where we're at this point. But the sun is shining. And if you're sitting in my kitchen right now looking out the window, you'd say, gee, it's kind of pretty out there. But...

COLLINS: Yes. That usually ends up being the case when you have such a heavy snowfall. It's beautiful, but, boy, try to go out in it and that's a whole different story.

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: That's an excellent point that you make, too, Marge, about senior citizens and the importance of keeping an eye on them and making sure that they're doing all right, because from the looks of our video that we are seeing here, it's going to be a while -- not sure how long.

We joke a lot about people in Buffalo and the snowplows.

HARRIS: And they can take it.

COLLINS: Yes. And they know exactly how to handle it. But this is different. This is certainly different.

RYAN: This is different. This is very different.

I think that the other thing, too, like he was saying, it's going to turn to water. And we've got streams already out in front.

So people are trying -- if they are out there, they're getting caught in deep waters and they're falling. So, you know, it's more than just snow. It's a lot of other things.

HARRIS: Well, Marge, let me ask you another quick question. And then Chad's going to jump in in a second here.

Did you have an opportunity to sort of get out ahead of this and get what you need? I know you're kind of hunkered down right now.

(CROSSTALK)

RYAN: I pretty much -- you know, I usually have a lot of things in the refrigerator and in the cupboards. So I wasn't too concerned about any of that. I think my only concern right now is getting a little heat in the house.

I have a little condition called Raynaud's, and I need to keep my hands warm. But anyway, there -- you know, people -- some people -- they were showing hardware stores yesterday where they were -- people were coming to look at snowplows, et cetera. But I just think because it was only October the 12th, they just figured this isn't really going to happen.

HARRIS: Well, Marge, stay safe.

RYAN: Yes. Thank you.

HARRIS: Stay warm.

RYAN: We'll try to do that, too.

COLLINS: Thank you, Marge.

RYAN: Thank you.

HARRIS: Thanks for your time.

RYAN: Bye now.

COLLINS: Want to get directly to Florida, breaking news there. The bodies of four people found along the Florida turnpike.

We want to go to Bryan Garner of CNN affiliate WPTV. He is live at the scene.

Bryan, boy, what an awful story. What's the latest from there?

BRYAN GARNER, REPORTER, WPTV: Well, Heidi, just about 30 minutes ago, medical examiners removed the bodies of the victims from the side of the turnpike here in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

If you look over my shoulder, you can see a blue tent back there. That's where deputies set up so that they could look at the scene. That is exactly where the bodies were found, just about 30 feet from the side of the turnpike.

Now, this is the way the story's unfolded. This morning, just a few minutes before 8:00, a driver passing through here on the turnpike saw what he or she thought to be a single body on the side of the road. That person called state troopers, and when they arrived they found four bodies on the side of the road, huddled together.

There was a mother clutching two children ages 4 and 6, one under each arm. And a father estimated between 25 and 30 years old. All of these people killed by multiple gunshot wounds.

Now, sheriff's deputies suspect that this crime happened here on the scene because of that defensive posture. They suspect sometime between midnight and 7:00 a.m.

This scene borders a very nice golf community here in Port St. Lucie, and you might think because of the highly populated area, someone might have seen or heard something. But the local sheriff says that is not the case, that the turnpike can be very dark and desolate at that time of the day. But what's happening right now is crime scene technicians are digging up the earth around where the bodies were found, trying to see if shell casings perhaps passed through the bodies and into the ground.

Right now they have very little to go on. What they thought was going to be a valuable asset for them, the video cameras lining the turnpike, has turned out not to be. And that's because many of the video cameras here are live feeds. So unless someone is watching them, there's no evidence of what happened here.

Sheriff's deputies here in Port St. Lucie are now casing the area. They're going to local rest stops, asking people if they had seen or heard anything.

The local sheriff tells me they do know the identities of these victims. They found I.D. cards on them, but they're not revealing their identities at this point.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: Yes, certainly understandable. I'm sure they want to notify family members first before doing that.

Bryan, before we let you go, probably very important to put the phone number on the screen, once again, that we could maybe generate some -- some leads into this case.

That number, 772-462-3230. You see it on the bottom of your screen.

You bring up a very good point, Bryan, that they usually rely on these video cameras, and they are not there. They were not turned on at the time, which again was between the hours of midnight and 7:00 Eastern Time along the turnpike there.

Have investigators or police given you any sense, Bryan, as to what they will do next because they didn't have those cameras rolling?

GARNER: Right now they've got very little to go on. What they told us is that, again, they are going through the crime scene to see if they can find any additional clues. And right now they're relying on the public.

That phone number that you gave, if anyone heard or saw something unusual here on the turnpike between midnight and 7:00 Eastern Time, they're hoping for a tip here that can help break this case, because at this point, a mother and father, two young children shot on the side of the road. They have no explanation for this -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Boy, it's just absolutely devastating.

Bryan Garner of our affiliate WPTV in Florida today.

Bryan, thank you.

HARRIS: We are sniffing out the truth about North Korea's reported nuclear test. A sniffer plane has been in the air. What did it find? What didn't it find?

You're in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Sniffing out the truth about North Korea's reported nuclear test. A U.S. plane has been in the air.

Our Barbara Starr is on the ground at the Pentagon with new information.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony.

Well, now some results in, but not a whole lot of clarity. Initial air sampling done by the United States in and around the North Korean peninsula the day after the test -- Monday was the test, the air samples were taking on Tuesday. The results, no radioactivity.

U.S. officials confirming those air samples flown by reconnaissance flights, they took air samples. They've now tested them, they've run all the data. No indications of radioactivity.

What does that mean? Well, it's still inconclusive, officials say. Radioactivity would have confirmed that this was a nuclear event by North Korea. No radioactivity? It's possible the North Koreans sealed the site up so tight, that underground site, that no radioactivity escaped, or it's even possible that maybe they fooled the world and it was simply a test of conventional weapons.

Officials tell us they will continue to conduct sampling of the air and ground, try and see over the next many days if they can come up with any definitive evidence that it was a nuclear test. But as one intelligence official put it this morning, where they stand is, "Lack of confirmation is not proof of a non-event." That's in the words of the intelligence community. So the fact is, they still don't really know and they may never know.

HARRIS: You know, Barbara, it sounds a bit like DNA. You get initial tests, and then you have to wait a period for more conclusive tests. It's beginning to sound a bit like that scenario.

STARR: Well, it is. It's sort of a detective story.

HARRIS: Yes.

STARR: The fact is, they may never know. But the bottom practical line is, certainly for national security -- the national security community, they take the North Koreans at their word.

At the United Nations, of course, we're now seeing countries pushing for very strong sanctions against North Korea. One working assumption has to be very realistic and very practical. The North Koreans say they have a nuclear capability. The world probably takes them at their word.

Nobody wants to see them do a second test to try and prove it again.

HARRIS: Yes. Good point there, Barbara.

Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon.

Barbara, thank you.

STARR: Sure.

COLLINS: Former president Gerald Ford back in the hospital. His spokeswoman says he is undergoing medical testes and doing well. A government source tells CNN the former president's condition is not life-threatening. He has been hospitalized several times this year.

At 93, Ford is the nation's oldest living former president.

HARRIS: Heidi Collins, did you see this story yesterday?

COLLINS: I did. This was -- this was interesting.

HARRIS: How about this?

So, here you have Bono -- he's with that pretty popular rock 'n' roll group -- what's the name of that group?

COLLINS: Oh, I don't know. U2.

HARRIS: U2?

Bono and President Bush at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Bono arrives, notices -- this is how the story goes -- notices Air Force One on the tarmac, phones the White House and arranges this -- arranges this meeting.

They spend about 10 minutes together there on Air Force One. Bono happened to be in town for an anti-AIDS benefit promoting...

COLLINS: Yes, Product Red.

HARRIS: Product Red. I guess it's a new line of clothing, accessories and some other things that raise money.

COLLINS: For AIDS in Africa.

HARRIS: To fight AIDS in Africa.

COLLINS: Yes. But who other than Bono to just say, hey, there's Air Force One. I think I'll go check it out, go inside, meet with the president.

HARRIS: He can make the call and it happens. Maybe that's the story there, huh?

COLLINS: Yes. And meanwhile, we should let you know YOUR WORLD TODAY, which is the show that comes up at 12:00 Eastern, noon, right here on CNN, will be talking with Bono. That will be today. And he, of course, will be talking more about AIDS and poverty.

And so I'm sure mentioning that little interview or that little moment with the president.

HARRIS: Wow. Yes.

COLLINS: You could get that, right, Tony? Just walk in there, "Hello, President Bush."

HARRIS: Whenever I want it, yes.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, Britain's army chief wants his troops out of Iraq some time soon. How soon is soon? Well, that's just part of the uproar, not really sure what was said here.

A live report coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: An Ohio congressman pleads guilty in the corruption probe linked to a disgraced lobbyist. Republican Bob Ney entered the plea within the last hour, but here is the interesting part. We are just learning now about House GOP leadership demanding his resignation.

He had said at the same time of entering those pleas that he would not resign today and was going to announce a little bit later on, alongside his attorney, when he would resign. I think that was the plan for a couple weeks from now.

Meanwhile, as I said, House GOP leadership demanding the resignation today of Congressman Bob Ney, Ohio Republican. Just as a reminder, this is all in relation to the Jack Abramoff influence pedaling investigation, and this will claim obviously the first member of Congress pleading guilty to taking bribes essentially.

We, of course, will continue to follow this story and let you know. We're working to get some of our sources on the ground and on camera to find out what exactly is going on here.

HARRIS: Well, he says he tried to stop ex-congressman Mark Foley from e-mailing a former page. Today, Representative John Shimkus tells his story to House investigators.

Shimkus is the chairman of the board that oversees the page program. He says he confronted Foley last fall after learning about what's been called overly-friendly e-mails to the former page.

Foley's former chief of staff testified before the ethics panel yesterday. Kirk Fordham and his lawyer wouldn't discuss his testimony. Fordham has said he warned House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office years ago about Foley. Hastert's office disputes that.

Britain's army chief takes aim at the Iraq war. General Richard Dannatt told "The Daily Mail" that British forces must get out of Iraq sometime soon or risk catastrophic consequences. He also called for -- that the post-war planning was poor and the attempt to spread democracy naive. Later, Dannatt tried to do some damage control, saying he's shoulder to shoulder with the Americans and eye to eye with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD DANNATT, BRITISH ARMY COMMANDER: I said we should pull out sometime soon. But that comment needs to be placed in the context of the campaign -- on the campaign plan.

We don't want to be there forever. We have been there for three and a half years. Three and a half years ago we had some 20,000, 30,000 soldiers there. We're now down to 7,500.

And indeed, in southeast Iraq, which the British are responsible for, there are four provinces. We've already handed two of those provinces over to Iraqi control. And the third province we're well on the way to. So we are going in the right direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And he goes on to say that British troops may need to stay in Iraq another one, two, three years.

COLLINS: An unlawful killing by U.S. troops in Iraq. That ruling today by a British coroner.

The case centers on veteran British journalist Terry Lloyd. He was killed outside Basra at the start of the war. A coroner says Lloyd died of a gunshot wound to the head.

It happened as the ITN reporter was being transferred in a minibus. He had been hit during a shootout between U.S. and Iraqi forces. Washington refused to let Americans testify in the case. The coroner and Lloyd's family are depending now on -- or demanding, that is, U.S. troops appear in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHELSEA LLOYD, DAUGHTER OF TERRY LLOYD: We call on the attorney general and the DPP to commence proceedings to bring the soldiers, including their commanding officers, to justice. They did not come to this inquest to explain their actions. Let them now do so in our criminal courts, where they are guaranteed to get a fair trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(NEWSBREAK)

COLLINS: That awful plane crash in New York. Investigators still searching for clues. And we'll tell what you they have found. The strange turn in the story, coming up next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: CNN's Michael Ware is on the line with us right now. He's embedded with British troops in Basra. Never know when one of our reporters is in an embed, when we'll get an opportunity to talk to them. Michael is on the line right now. We want to take that opportunity.

Michael, good to talk to you.

I want to come to you with the story that's in the news today, Britain's army chief talking about the Iraq war. At one point the story was is that he was suggesting that it was time to get out of Iraq or risk catastrophic consequences, and then there was a different story, some backtracking, it seems. But what I'm asking you is, what is reflected in these statements back and forth about the frustration that's being felt, perhaps, by these soldiers on the ground?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the comments that we've heard from General Sir Richard Dan (ph), to a large degree, reflect the views of commanders here on the ground. Indeed, just days before the general made this statement, a British commander in the field on the Iranian border said precisely the same thing, that the presence of his troops in the area where he operated had led to increased attacks, so he shifted his troops.

So there is a great debate right now within British forces about this very thing, and I think the general is very much reflecting the views of his troops and the commanders on the ground. What the Brits are looking to do is find the right balance between staying here and contributing to the security environment, and overstaying and leading to the deterioration of the security environment.

WARE: And, Michael, you're in Basra now, in the Basra area. When we think about the English troops there and the British troop there's in Basra, that is an area we think of as being relatively safe, certainly when compared to the situation in Baghdad. But give us a sense of what the situation is like in and around Basra.

WARE: Well, Basra still remains a hostile environment for British troops. It's not simple or an easy thing for them to do to move about this city or its surrounds. Indeed, there's daily indirect fire or mortar or rocket attacks. There are small arms attacks.

Indeed, our cameraman this afternoon was on patrol, where a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at his vehicle. So this is in no means a simple environment for British troops to operate in. It's very, very complex, and very much dominated by the Shia militias, which U.S. and British intelligence suggest have, to varying degrees, support for neighboring Iran.

HARRIS: And, Michael one last question, when you talk to these commanders, how do they describe the mission?

WARE: Their mission is one of nation building. They're trying to get the Iraqis to lead themselves, to stand up and find their own solutions. So they're trying to build the Iraqi security forces and they're trying to build local governments here in southern Iraq. The problem is, the militias and the Islamic parties that represent them. According to locals and according to many intelligence officials, the government and many of these security forces are heavily penetrated by or dominated by some of these militias.

So it's a very, very complex environment. The Brits are trying to stand up a government, but they can't necessarily rely on the members of these governments to actually be their allies and true partners.

HARRIS: CNN's Michael Ware, embedded with British troops in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

Michael, thank you.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, a freezing Friday 13th in western New York. The region slammed with a rare early-October snowstorm. As much as two feet of snow falling in parts of Buffalo. Hundreds of thousands of people are without power. Schools are closed, roads shutdown. The conditions so treacherous in fact, any driving deemed unnecessary has been banned. The storm breaks a nearly 89-year-old record.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: A dramatic new memorial in the nation's capital. Wait until you see this. A live report from Washington, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Some new information in the Congressman Bob Ney story. He, as you know, we reported a little bit earlier, entered a guilty plea in federal court today. Two counts connected to the Abramoff influence peddling investigation; bribery, in other words. We heard from him that he would not be resigning today. That was going to be the announcement that he and his attorney would make. But the House GOP saying, oh, yes you will. We would like very much if you resign. In fact, we're getting a statement now from them.

Want to go straight to Andrea Koppel, who is standing by to give us a little bit more information about that.

Boy, I'm looking at this, and pretty strong words here, Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi. I think it's fair to say House Republican leaders recognize that this is the last bit of ammunition they would want to give the Democrats at this time, certainly, with all the other stories that have been captivating headlines that have reflected poorly on House Republicans.

This is coming from House Republican leaders. They wasted absolutely no time getting the statement out. Speaker Hastert among them, saying Bob Ney must be punished for the criminal actions that he's acknowledged. They say that there is no place for him in this Congress, and if he chooses not to resign his office, that the leadership will move to expel him immediately as our first order of business when Congress resumes its legislative work in November. Now, although we did not hear from Congressman Ney -- certainly, he didn't speak to reporters -- we did learn in the courtroom that -- from his attorney that his client would not resign until sometime between now and January the 19th, when he's supposed to be sentenced.

The speculation right now, Heidi, is that the reason Congressman Ney was reluctant to give up his seat sooner rather than later is that he actually needs the paycheck. He has huge legal bills, as you might imagine. The significance of this, of course, he is the first lawmaker now to go down, to be convicted of bribery in that Jack Abramoff scandal -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Right. And Andrea, you know, it's interesting to point out, -- and I think people may not know -- you make reference to the finances of all of this, Congressman Ney. Despite his admission of this criminal activity, he's going to continue to receive a congressional pension.

KOPPEL: That's right. And he's been receiving it all the while. He's been in alcohol treatment since the -- he was first indicted a number of weeks back. And he stands to face right now a maximum of ten years in prison. But what is being recommended by the prosecution right now is that he serve 27 months. We won't find out until January just how long that will be.

But he's also, Heidi, required to pay up over $60,000 in fines, or I should say up to $60,000 in fines. That's not including his legal fees. So he stands to lose a lot of money. And nevertheless, House leadership, literally within minutes of this announcement that Congressman Ney, appeared in court fired off this press release, leaving no doubt in anyone's minds that they are putting their foot down and not going to let Congressman Ney keep his position.

COLLINS: Yes, and just to remind everyone, once again, this whole situation linked to the Jack Abramoff influence peddling investigation. He -- Bob Ney admitted to charges of conspiracy and making false statements.

All right. Andrea Koppel, thanks for the update.

HARRIS: YOUR WORLD TODAY coming up at the top of the hour. Ralitsa Vassileva is here now with a preview. Ralitsa, good morning.

RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to both of you.

Well, there are no guarantees that after a war is over, violence ends. We'll take a rare glimpse into allegations of torture in a Russian republic emerging from civil war. But, we will also show you that it is possible to move on to a better life after suffering the brutality of conflict. We'll be chatting with a woman who found a way to help other women help themselves.

And U2's Bono has come up with yet another way to help fight AIDS. We'll talk to him, as well as this woman, who's helping other women help themselves in Africa. We'll talk about Bono about his red initiative and find out what he and President Bush chatted about when they met briefly at Chicago O'Hare's airport.

Hope you'll be watching.

COLLINS: That was kind of an impromptu meeting, wasn't it?

HARRIS: That was something. That was something.

COLLINS: All right, we'll be watching. Thanks a lot, Ralitsa.

VASSILEVA: Thank you.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, a dramatic new memorial in the nation's capital. We'll have a live report coming up from Washington. You aren't going to miss -- want to miss this. Two-hundred seventy feet, soaring into the high. Beautiful spires there. Tell you all about it in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Searching for clues in the tragic plane crash in New York City. Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor slammed into a high-rise apartment building on Wednesday, and investigators are still scouring the crash site for pieces of the plane. Among the parts they found so far, a bent memory chip and the navigation panel. Officials say the plane's engine was working at impact.

Now the bizarre. Heidi, the Friday 13th story of the day. This is a strange twist to this story.

"The New York Daily News" says the luxury apartment that took a direct hit in the crash belongs to a bomb who is no stranger to bizarre accidents. You might recall this story back in 1997. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a balloon knocked down part of a lamp post, critically injuring a woman. That woman, Kathleen Caronna, reportedly lives in the gutted apartment. Lucky, fortunate, thank your lucky stars she wasn't home at the time of the crash.

Man, can you imagine that?

COLLINS: That is absolutely unbelievable.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, a changing skyline in the nation's capital. A new Air Force memorial soaring 270 feet above ground will be dedicated in Washington tomorrow. You it there. Nice live picture.

More now from CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It looks like it's almost done.

MAJ. GEN. ED GRILLO (RET.), AIR FORCE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: Got one more piece to put on and we are done. MCINTYRE (voice-over): For retired Major General Ed Grillo, watching the Air Force Memorial's completion has been as exhilarating as the aerobatics it evokes.

(on camera): You know, when I look at it, I can't help but think of that maneuver that the Thunderbirds do. What's that called?

GRILLO: It's called a "bomb burst" maneuver. And it's literally when four planes come together, and they go reach into the heavens, they're soaring straight up into the sky, and that was part of the inspiration that the architect used for this memorial.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Designed by the late James Freed (ph), the memorial took two years to build at a cost of $30 million, in mostly private funds. It now takes its place as a prominent landmark on the Washington skyline, next to Arlington National Cemetery and up a hill from the Pentagon.

(on camera): You know, from here, it almost looks like this towers over the Washington Monument, but I guess that's just perspective.

GRILLO: It is just perspective. The Washington monument is actually 550 feet tall.

MCINTYRE: And how tall is this?

GRILLO: The tallest part is 270. We do sit on a 130-foot plateau. But even when adding those two together, the Washington Monument is still higher, as it should be.

MCINTYRE (voice-over): Wind tunnel tests of the unique design revealed a problem. The spires acted like wings and vibrate, prompting a unique solution.

GRILLO: The engineering element that corrected that was to put these large 1,600 steel balls in cages inside the memorial, such that as the memorial begins to sway in one direction, the ball would move in the other and dampen the oscillation.

MCINTYRE: At the dedication this weekend, the Air Force, the youngest of the military services, will no longer be the only service without a major memorial in Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Jamie McIntyre joins us now live from the area.

Jamie, this will be unveiled today, tomorrow? What's the latest?

MCINTYRE: Tomorrow they're expecting 30,000 people here for this unveiling, with everybody who's anyone in the Air Force. We were treated today to a little preview of what's going to be going on overhead. The Air Force Thunderbirds conducting that bomb burst maneuver over the memorial, as well as a parade of vintage aircraft. I joked to one Air Force general here when I saw a P-51 from World War II ahead of an F-22, I said, gee, it's too bad all the money you spent on that F-22 can't keep up with that old World War II plane. He said he thought the F-22 pilot was probably going at way low throttle.

COLLINS: Yes, I bet.

Some great planes to listen to and to watch.

All right, Jamie, thank you very much.

HARRIS: You are back in the NEWSROOM, 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Don Lemon is here now with a preview.

Hey, Don.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That kind of reminds you of the St. Louis Arch, didn't it?

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Yes we have a lot today coming up at 1:00. You know that Buffalo, New York is synonymous with snow, but even October is a little early for this kind of storm. We'll hear from New York's governor, who is on the way to Buffalo to lead his state's response to the situation. We'll also ask him about the restrictions on airspace over Manhattan since the crash of Cory Lidle's plane on Wednesday.

And Bono gets some one-on-one time with the commander in chief. We'll hear from the U2 frontman on what he and the leader of the free world talked about. That's today in the NEWSROOM, when you join Kyra and me at 1:00 Eastern.

COLLINS: Yes, I want to remind everybody, too, he's coming up as a guest on YOUR WORLD TODAY, which is coming your way at noon.

HARRIS: Stay tuned for that.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: That's right, we'll just be watching all day long.

All right, thank you, Don.

As we said, CNN NEWSROOM continues, just one hour from now.

HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" with Bono, next, right here on CNN.

COLLINS: Have a great weekend, everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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